Baby-Sitting
by HP Slash Luv
Summary: Muggle!AU. Also, James and Hermione are the same age. James and Hermione are asked by their friends to baby-sit Teddy for the day. And that leads to a decision being made.


**Written For:**

 **The 'One Character Only:** Round 3  
JamesHermione  
Prompts: Book (word) / Teddy Lupin (character) / Breakfast (word)

 **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry: **Around The World in Thirty-One Days  
Tajikistan - Character: Teddy Lupin

 **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry: **Writing Club  
Showtime - Needle Through a Bug - (object) Night light

 **The Musical Category Competition:** West Side Story  
Quintet - Write about someone preparing for a fight (of any kind).

 **Baby-Sitting**

James smiled at Hermione. "So, are you scared?"

Hermione gave him a look. "Maybe a little bit. We've never babysat for Teddy before. What if we mess up?"

James rolled his eyes. "What could we _possibly_ do that would be so bad? And anyways, I'm sure Remus and Dora will cut us some slack. They know we've never really been around kids."

"I don't think they'll cut us slack if we accidentally poison him."

James almost laughed at his wife's dramatic. "Poison? Really? I think you might be worrying a little too much."

"Accidents happen," Hermione muttered.

"And that's an accident we're going to make sure _doesn't_ happen. Come on. They're probably waiting for us to ring the doorbell so they can have their day without their kid."

Hermione lifted her hand and pressed her index finger on the bell. They heard it chime and a relieved Dora opened the door. "Finally! We thought you two would stand out here all day."

Hermione blushed. "Sorry."

James grinned. "We just wanted to keep you in suspense."

They followed the smiling woman into the house. "Well, it worked. Remus was worried you two were ready to change your minds, and we'd be stuck at home."

Remus was putting on his shoes. "Hey, guys."

"What's up, Pal? Ready for your romantic and childless day out?"

"Yep."

Dora wrapped her arm around Hermione's shoulder. "Don't worry. You'll be fine. Teddy is five years old. He's not that scary."

Remus pointed to the little boy who was quietly playing with his blocks. "See? He's just playing. Easy."

Hermione forced a laugh. "Right. Easy."

Dora laughed. "Well, Teddy already ate breakfast. There are things in the kitchen to make sandwiches for the three of you, and we'll be home before dinner. He can either have grapes for or crackers for snacks. He can have one snack before lunch and one snack after lunch ."

"You have our phone number if there's really something you can't handle," Remus added.

" _But_ you'll handle it. You'll be fine," Dora reassured them, or Hermione mostly, since James seemed pretty at ease.

"Relax, you crazy kids. Get out of here and have fun. We have everything under control," James told them.

Dora and Remus laughed, and the three of them were left alone.

Hermione nodded at James and went and sat down next to Teddy on the floor. "Hey, Teddy. Are you building something with these blocks?"

Teddy toothily grinned and with a loud shriek of laughter, he threw his hand out, knocking down the start of his tower.

Hermione blinked. "Or are you destroying something?"

James laughed and got down on the floor as well. "All little boys like to destroy their towers."

Hermione shook her head. "Boys."

Hermione built up towers, only to have Teddy knock them down. He seemed to love destroying them because he'd get up, clap his hands, and dance around the debris.

About 10:30, Teddy surprised them by asking for grapes. Hermione had thought he'd go for the crackers since they weren't as healthy, but Teddy chose the fruit. He happily munched away. Hermione had a handful of grapes as well, but James opted for the starchier crackers

"You could learn from Teddy," Hermione admonished.

"Don't nag me, Woman," James joked.

After their snack, Teddy ran from the room, and Hermione followed him, but she lost sight of the little boy. "Teddy?" she called.

There was no answer.

"Teddy!" she called again, beginning to feel a panic swell up from deep within her.

James strolled into the hallway. "What's wrong?"

Hermione shook her head. "I don't know where he is."

James laid a hand on her shoulder. "Relax. I'm sure he's just hiding."

"Why?" she burst out, feeling like the stress of it was going to make her burst out into tears. (And she wasn't a crybaby by any means.)

"Because it's a game." Louder, he said, "Okay, Teddy, want to play hide-and-go-seek? Fine. I'm gonna find you," he sing-songed. And he took off. He started looking in closets and under furniture.

Hermione followed her husband's example. She went into Teddy's bedroom. As she moved around the room, she noticed Teddy's dinosaur night light. It was so cute that she couldn't fight the smile that formed on her lips.

As she slowly surveyed the room, she heard stifled giggles.

She grinned. "Oh where, oh where, has my little friend, Teddy, gone?" she called.

James came into the room.

Hermione pointed toward the bed and they shared matching grins.

"Teddy, oh Teddy, where are you?" James asked.

They moved towards the bed, got on their knees, and at a silent signal, they lifted the blanket that obscured the space under the bed.

They both saw Teddy who began laughing uproariously.

"Found you!" James and Hermione screamed at the same time.

Teddy crawled out, and they played in the bedroom for awhile, until lunch time. James had a turkey sandwich, Hermione had a ham and cheese sandwich, and Teddy had a peanut butter and banana sandwich. While the grownups had water, Teddy had milk.

After they were down with their hearty meal, Teddy began yawning.

"Tired, Teddy Bear?" Hermione asked.

He nodded.

"Do you want me to read you a book before your naptime?"

He nodded again.

Hermione lifted him into her arms and walked back to his bedroom. She allowed Teddy to pick out a book and they settled onto the bed with Teddy laying against her side.

They were only ten pages into the book when Hermione noticed Teddy sleeping.

She couldn't help but stare at his peaceful expression. He was just so adorable.

They rest of the day passed by rather like that. The only difference was Hermione became more confident that she wouldn't make a horrible mistake as the day progressed.

When Remus and Dora got home, they were greeted by a happy son.

"Well, it looks like you two did well," Remus complimented.

Dora looked at them carefully and out of the blue, asked, "When will the two of you have a child of your own?"

Hermione opened her mouth, but she snapped it closed, unsure of how to answer.

James mentally prepared himself for an oncoming fight, but he honestly said, "Well, actually, after spending the day with Teddy, I wouldn't mind us trying to start a family now."

Hermione's eyes bugged. "Are you kidding me? You bring it up here? Not in private like a _normal_ husband would?"

"Well, if I bring it up in front of our friends, we're less likely to fight about it."

She scowled. "What makes you think we'd fight about it?"

"Because I know how you feel about establishing your career first, but if we wait until you're fully established, we'll keep putting it off until we're too old to have a family. And I don't want to lose our chance. I want to be a dad."

"Well, that shows how little you know me."

James blinked. "What?"

"I want to be a mom. So there, you were ready for a fight for no reason."

James grinned. "So, we're going to become parents?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, we are."

James took her into his arms and kissed her with everything he had.

"Congratulations, you two," Remus complimented.

They broke away from each other, panting.

Hermione smiled at Remus. "Don't congratulate us until I'm pregnant."

James grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the front door. "Come on. Let's get home so we can get busy trying to create life."

Hermione's face was bright red as she was pulled from the house, leaving a laughing Dora, Remus, and Teddy (although he had no idea why he was laughing) behind.

xXx

(word count: 1,282)


End file.
